Israel - Scandal forces PM to revise his ice cream budget
According to traditional dream interpretations, dreaming
about eating pistachios means you will earn “blessed money” in the near future.
Perhaps Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was dreaming when he asked for NIS
10,000 budget for buying pistachio and French vanilla ice cream from the
high-end Jerusalem gelateria “Metudela” located near the Prime Minister’s
residence.
The entire country was up in maraschino cherries when
word of his large personal expenditure at an ice cream store was published on
the Israeli business news website Calcalist on Thursday. The newspaper revealed
that Netanyahu asked – and received – for NIS 10,000 per year to order Metudela
ice cream as it was “his personal taste” in ice cream.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday
said the budget was a “framework” for the upcoming year and did not represent
money already allocated. After an uproar in the Israeli press over the weekend,
Netanyahu cancelled the request, calling it “extraneous,” the PMO said.
Despite losing the contract with Netanyahu, Metudela has
enjoyed a surge of popularity since the news broke. In their flagship Rehavia
store, they’ve rechristened the pistachio ice cream “Bibi pistachio.” Serena
Kanfi, who makes all of the ice cream for their Rehavia and Beit Hakerem
stores, says she has tripled production for pistachio ice cream since Thursday.
On Friday, customers streamed to the store from as far away as Tel Aviv and
Rehovot.
She said that her husband, co-owner Rafael Kanfi, is also
a barber and cuts Sara Netanyahu’s hair. When the couple decided to open an ice
cream store five years ago, Kanfi told the Netanyahus about his new venture and
the family began to frequent the store. Sara Netanyahu’s favorite is French
vanilla, while Bibi Netanyahu is partial to pistachio, she said. But the family
also enjoys the sorbets, including strawberry and mint lemonade.
About the scandal, Kanfi, who immigrated from Uruguay
four years ago, rolls her eyes. “They exaggerated. It’s not that much ice cream
per month,” she said. “They have a lot of guests and invite a lot of people.” A
kilo of ice cream at Metudela costs NIS 72, meaning for NIS 10,000 per year the
first family are their guests eating about 11.5 kg per month.
“It’s really a shame,” Kanfi added. “He’s also a human
being, he should be able to eat ice cream wherever he wants.”
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